


Reasons, why Horik is the true villain of season two

by swanpride



Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 02:46:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1493767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanpride/pseuds/swanpride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a small meta about why the blood eagle is too good for Horik</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reasons, why Horik is the true villain of season two

Vikings, with its grey morals, sometimes makes it hard to cast someone in the villain role without question. Best example of this is king Ecbert. Yes, he is set on gaining more power and yes he is a skilful manipulator. But, as Athelstan pointed out, Ecbert is a lot like Ragnar. He is a ruler with a vision, and between him and Ragnar, he is actually the one who is more in the right. After all, it is his land which is attacked, not the other way around. In the reality of the series he is an antagonist at best, though even this word is a little bit too strong for my taste. He is more someone who has its own interest which not necessarily go conform with Ragnar’s goals. 

Occasionally, the show is painfully obvious about who is the designed villain (normally by portraying him as stir crazy). Sigvard and Borg are certainly cast in the role, and I guess there won’t be much of an argument concerning Sigvard. After all, he was only in the show to get timely dispatched by Lagertha, and he gave the audience ample reason to agree with this decision. The lines are a little bit more blurry when it comes to Borg. Depending on the perspective, he was a snake in the grass or someone who got screwed over, big time. 

The character which I definitely consider a villain is Horik, though. And yes, I am aware that some people might disagree. The arguments for his position are that he is the king after all, that Ragnar is deliberately ignoring his authority and that Horik, pretty much like Ecbert, only does what a ruler has to do. I disagree.   
But before we delve into this topic further, I guess it would be a good idea to discuss the difference between a King and a Jarl. It’s actually not that significant during that time period in Denmark. In fact, historians believe that during the start of Horik’s reign, he was one of multiple king, before he became somewhat the sole ruler. Somewhat because being a king does not mean that he has the authority over every person in Denmark. In this construct, Ragnar and Lagertha are not under his authority, they are rulers in their own right, but over a smaller territory. As Horik himself points out “We three are equals, but one cannot be more equal than the other.” when he accuses Ragnar of trying to take over the leadership. 

The only hold Horik might have over Ragnar, is the fact that Ragnar swore fealty to him. Again a word which can cause confusion, because we normally think of a vassal swearing fealty to some kind of ruler. But that is only one variant of a fealty oath. In its most basic meaning, swearing fealty simply means agreeing on some kind of alliance. As far as we can tell, the alliance between Horik and Ragnar involves raiding together and strengthening each other’s position. 

If we take this as a basis and examine Horik’s actions, it becomes clear pretty fast that Horik might have promised some sort of partnership, but what he actually does is using Ragnar. His first move is to send Ragnar presumably to negotiate with Borg. Just a small favour to strengthen their alliance. Ragnar’s mission fails basically because Horik stacked the deck against him from the beginning. Let’s ignore the question if the land even is Horik’s property or not, fact is that he sends Ragnar to negotiate with the intention to let the negotiation fail and draw Ragnar into a war, which is not his quarrel (as Lagertha put it). 

Those actions are already questionable, but what really shows Horik’s true nature is what happens after his decision to break the agreement with Borg leads to the attack on Kattegat. Ragnar obviously expects Horik to go back with him and come to his aid, the same way he came to Horik’s aid when they were fighting Borg over his land. But Horik uses the excuse of trying to salvage the deal to stay back. 

Let’s think about it for a moment: Horik was not the one interested in making a deal or getting land in Wessex. Ragnar was. We also never see him doing anything related to said deal, like discussing with Athelstan the next steps. Instead he is just sitting around, celebrating, leaving Ragnar hanging out to dry and to deal with Horik’s enemy himself. And this is a pattern which goes on and on. When he learns that Ragnar has to burn the food stores, he does not offer to send some supplies to make the winter easier for Ragnar’s people. Instead he demands that Ragnar does not take revenge on Bork. Now, from a modern perspective, this sounds like a sensible move. But from a Vikings perspective, this is more or less the worst thing Ragnar can do in this situation. If he forgives Borg, he will be seen as weak. It would cost him a lot of authority. 

I think the deciding point in all this, perhaps even for Ragnar, is the way Horik talks about Athelstan after his supposed dead. Yeas, Athelstan might still have been a Christian. But he fought for Horik. He stayed in Wessex because Horik requested him. And he supposedly died under his command. The very least he deserves is Horik’s respect. Instead Horik calls him a “worthless individual”. 

Leadership is a two way street. It certainly is for Ragnar. But Horik has proven himself to be a man who only takes, but never gives. What he is accusing Ragnar of is what he has doing all along: Doing what he wants with no regard to the alliance he has with Ragnar. And that is why Horik is, in all sense and purposes a villain – a very dangerous one.

**Author's Note:**

> Concerning Lagertha: To me it looks like she and Ragnar made some sort of battle plan while they were on the ship. In any case, I am not particularly worried about Ragnar trying to undermine her, or the other way around. 
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes, I am not a native speaker and didn't have a Beta for this one.


End file.
